God-breathed

God-Breathed

Today’s Scripture Selection: Second Timothy 3:16

“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the man (and woman) of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

It seems the debate over the nature and purpose of Scripture will never end – at least this side of heaven. I suppose there will be those who take issue with the fact that I included the (and woman) parenthetical addition in the above reading.

But please – I don’t want to start a fight.

I merely want to celebrate how wonderful it is that we can rest assured that Scripture is God-breathed and that all of us, men, women, children, pastors, laity, sinners and saints alike, can profit by taking it to heart.

More than just profit by it – we can ingest it as spiritual food and nourishment.

I have more Bibles than I can count. This is not because I am obsessive-compulsive, or at least, I don’t think so. It is because I love all the various translations, all the commentaries, all the nuances of thought and appreciation I find in these well-worn books on my library shelves.

The scholars, and non-scholars alike, will argue over which is the best translation, which has it “right” or “wrong”, and I find a certain amount of such debate exhilarating. I also find too much of it tiresome, if not right out dangerous.

As for me, let me just absorb and appreciate the Scripture as it rolls off the page:

In the beginning, God
Hear, ye, O Israel
The Lord is my Shepherd
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord
God so loved the world
There is therefore now no condemnation
It is finished
Come, Lord Jesus

I am sure you can readily add to the list.

And every single word is God-breathed and precious. Amen?

Prayer: Lord, help me to never take your Word for granted, and always take it to heart. AMEN.

By Paul Simrell

The Reverend Paul W. Simrell has served for over thirty years in a variety of congregational and institutional settings. He is a recognized minister with standing in the Virginia region of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the United States and Canada and is nationally endorsed by the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) for specialized ministry in both pastoral counseling and chaplaincy. Ordained in 1982, he has served congregations in Kentucky, Texas, Florida, and Virginia. He currently serves as the pastor of Elpis Christian Church, a small, historic congregation located just a few miles west of Richmond, Virginia. Elpis is the Greek word meaning “expectant hope.” He also serves on the associate clinical staff of the Virginia Institute of Pastoral Care, Richmond, Virginia, both as a pastoral counselor and a ministerial assessment specialist, specializing in executive, clergy and relationship coaching. He is a graduate of the University of Florida and Lexington Theological Seminary and has done advanced clinical training in chaplaincy and pastoral counseling at the University of Kentucky Medical Center in Lexington, Kentucky, Children’s Medical Center and Parkland Hospital in Dallas, Texas and the Virginia Institute of Pastoral Care in Richmond, Virginia. He is a Certified Pastoral Counselor, an ACPE Practitioner, and a member of the American Association of Christian Counselors. He is a Certified Facilitator of the Prepare-Enrich relationship assessment and skills-building program and served as a volunteer chaplain for over twenty years with the CJW Medical Center campuses in Richmond, Virginia. His avocational interests include playing the piano and drawing. He is very happily married to his wife Elizabeth Yeamans Simrell, a free-lance writer, who is also a Certified Facilitator for the Prepare-Enrich program. Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton

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